Iād really like to participate more in bookclubs, cause I enjoy being part of a group, but I always drop them after a few weeks. It even led me, not participating in the first place (just lurking) while silently reading allng everybody and then still dropping the club. The reason is simple: reading just a few pages a week is not enough to keep my interest up. My comfy speed is more like a manga book every few days. Thatās not because Iām a gifted reader or something (still hovering around natively L24) but because I have way to much time on my hands. And also because Iām somebody who easily loses interest.
Waiting until next week to read up on the next chapter is reeeaaaally hard. It breaks the continuity of the story. I already tried making the bookclub into a two day event every 2 weeks, like rereading the old chapter the day before the new week starts and then reading the new chapter when itās due.
I already tried just reading the whole book, but obviously, when I finished the book in 1 or 2 weeks Iām not interested anymore in the book and thus not interested anymore in the bookclub (who is still just week 4, I already now this section, why would I go over it again?)
Iām also considering just joining every club that I could possibly already read, so Iām too busy to be bored by waiting
I already decided a few times that bookclubs are just not for me due to the slow speed, but always come back cause Iād reall like to make them work.
Iām also pondering making bookclubs pick my intensive, analysing every sentence to death read That would slow me down a bit, but it would also lessen the fun a bit. Itās worth to try, though.
Yeah, I know, I have odd wishes and needs But maybe this resonates with somebody who can give a bit of advice for little odd me
Hey CHimmsen! ( That shouldnāt go into quote mode but ok - canāt get it out )
Iām also considering just joining every club that I could possibly already read, so Iām too busy to be bored by waiting
Thatās whald I wouldāve suggested! You could read some books nearby maybe? I do that with non japanese books all the time^^
That is clearly not for everybody - so you can just find out if it works for you.
Or maybe you could also start a new reading group with people who feel the same ?
I think thatās what most of us do - my usual is to join book clubs of 2-3 light novels, and 2-3 manga clubs in parallel (I try not to do more than 5 at once because itās too muchā¦) and then have semi defined days a week where I read the book, or just read a bit more casually. Iām not sure if this would work for you, as you mention you donāt keep your interest up this way (my approach is a bit moreā¦ methodical. While I enjoy the books I read to a certain extent, my main goal is to develop a good reading hygiene and to improve my Japanese, so even if Iām not deeply enjoying the books per se, I donāt mind.)
Maybe an informal book club would work for you? Or a smaller club (2-3 members) where you could decide on your own pace; Iāve seen a couple of those around.
Itās tricky, because of the spread of ability. Even the advanced book clubās last pick, where we read a novel at about 30-40 pages a day, had both people who found this a bit slow and people for whom it was a bit fast.
I think that trying to find or start smaller more informal read-throughs might help: for instance the ēé島 read-through weāre planning is going to do chapter a week even though that means some 60 or 70 page weeks, because itās a small group of us and weāre all OK with going that fast.
Personally I treat a bookclub Iām in as a slow read-through that I do with other books to fill in the rest of the time.
I had a similar problem. My solution was making my own bookclub with a couple friends and we went at a much quicker pace of about 2 books a week and I liked it more.
You could start your own club or look at other discord servers for maybe some higher paced clubs. If it were a book every week or two, at least I would be interested if the book was something I was actually interested in. Who knows, maybe some of the more advanced users on here would be too.
That sounds lovely, a new book every two weeks sounds like a nice pace. Not too fast, so it accomodates for unforseen events. My japanese level is still quite low, so I doubt Iāll find enough people to want to read a lot of low level manga fast. Though maybe this thread might make them come out of hiding.
I know thatās why I donāt expect any of the book club to accomodate my speed but looking for ways how I could deal with the speed. Reading a novel at 30-40 pages a day sounds like a good speed. Sadly my japanese level is nowhere near that But it gives me hope for later in my journey
Yeah, thatās what I imagined. Just having a book club for about five days a week with two days off for when stuff happens. Have to try if it fits my weird needs
Thanks But the reason is, that I just have way too much time at my hands, so I like to fill it with reading and such. Thatās also why I donāt expect a lot of people having interest in faster clubs, most people are really busy.
but Iām also someone who has way to much free time on their hands, maybe we could find a book that both interests us to read together? I would probably also be frustrated by only reading one chapter a week. Iāve only recently started learning Japanese again though, so I would need some time to catch up to the level you are able to read at. But in my mind I think the best solution for you would be to find other people interested in matching your pace. There has to be other people out there willing to sink lots of time into books!
Yep, most people are in multiple clubs, and mixing in some that are at a harder level. For example, if you started reading novels right now, you probably wouldnāt have time to read 2 volumes of manga per week!
One suggestion is to follow along with a book club on purpose, and then choose a different manga series to read as fast as you want. You could also try reading a harder manga so it takes longer.
And, there are also casual book clubs where you can read at your own pace. We donāt have too many of those on this forum, but things like the NARUTO ćć«ć Informal Book Club are casual.
It seems I wrongly assumed nobody else would like to ābinge readeā easy manga.
I just stalked your log (and might say hi over there later), but youāre already reading a book thatās rated L9 on natively, thatās not shabby at all! Bet youāll be up to L16 stuff in no time! Do you have any reading preferences or no gos? Maybe weāll find something that we both enjoy. Even if itās just the two of us
Iām pretty open to reading anything, I have pretty broad interests. Though anything that has REALLY graphic gore make me squeamish, especially if itās kids being hurt so I would probably want to steer away from that.
When I saw the current ABC is going at about 60 pgs a WK, I was like āthatās so cool!!āā¦ But itās bad timing for me, bc Iām pouring all my time into Kansai dialect rn & work/life has been busier than normal (I still have to keep telling myself not to join tho lol)
Iāve tried this, but my motivation for what I want to read fluctuates too often. So I get stuck with choice paralysis and/or falling behind on multiple things for multiple weeksā¦ And then getting stressed out about which to catch back up with
Otoh Iāve found that clubs where Iāve (intentionally or unintentionally) joined 2/3rds through work well for me, cuz I can read a bunch at once
Schedule-free or schedule-optional book clubs have become my favorite.
For me the fun of book clubs is getting to talk to other people about the thing. So it doesnāt matter whether Iāve read it or not, unless I read ahead during the book club itself.
For me the series is more relevant than the level. If itās yuri, thereās a 90% chance Iām in, generally speaking. Tho I have read some other stuff at say L17-22 that I also enjoyed, and Iām sure thereās more out there. So if you wanna do that sorta thing, Iād consider joining
I already tried that and it somehow didnāt work for me Both just reading a different manga series (I become way to engrossed in the series and totally lose any interest in the slow paced book club). Going up a few levels (I feel comfy up to L22-L24 but can go up to L28 as long as it has furigana) doesnāt slow me down enough, it might take 2 days instead of 1, but how would I keep the interest up for next week? I know, my brain is terribly finicky sometimes
Iāve thought about starting to read Chiās Sweet Home, I read it in English when I was a kid and it was cute and sweet, itās about a little kitten having adventures and learning about her new home. It says its level 13 on natively which I think could be a nice midway point between our reading levels. Though if you have any better suggestions let me know, especially if slice of life isnāt your thing.
Hmm, well I like Berryās idea of following along with an old book club, you can still read everyoneās thoughts about the book while going as fast as you want!
Oh, I do that whenever I read a manga that has a bookclub and I have a question. But thatās not want I want to get out of a bookclub, I want to talk and engage with people who are currently reading the same thing I do. I donāt have many questions myself, though. Not about understanding japanese, the level Iām reading at is mostly comfy.
But you know what? Thinking about your suggestion might have actually sparked a new understanding Iām currently in the Final Fantasy 1 club and everytime I look, there are new posts. Itās fun to engage, cause the people are fun and talk a lot about different things. In my personal life Iām usually not the person whos asks questions but answering them.
I think by helping people out in easier clubs I could get more out of it. Instead of making the learning experience about myself, I could focus on helping out others making it more engaging for myself.
I think weāre on the same page Canāt stand gore/horror and uncomfy stuff like that. Chi had been my first manga, too and I still remember how much I struggled with the ābaby talkā in the beginning. How about you send me a message whenever you feel like starting on chi and weāll make a schedule for ourselves and maybe even an informal āaccelerated chi reading clubā.
That would be great! This next week Iām probably going to be binging the game Silksong when it releases tomorrow, so once Iām satisfied with my fill of it Iāll reach out about starting something then, likely next Wednesday/Thursday. ę„½ććæć«ćć¦ćć¾ć!
These days Iām too busy to have your problem, but at some point like a year ago or whatever I found myself wanting to read ahead and it was torturous to wait.
So I just ended up reading other books that I owned while I was waiting.
NARUTO ćć«ć